Official 2008 Usmle Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

[lion]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Greetings my brothers and sisters ,

I am new member here and will be taking my boards in another few months .
I thought I would start a thread devoted to a compilation of 2008 usmle experiences . I don't have anything to report as yet since my test is in a few month but anyone who has taken the test in 2008 please share with us your experience and feedback so we can keep the SDN tradition alive !

Good Luck

"Never , never , never , never Give up ! "

 

[doctorFred]

my mistake, not too many mentioned using Kaplan Qbank, USMLE World has taken over as the best Qbank for this step. My apologies.

you work for usmleworld. we get it. now go away.

 

[doctorFred]

6 trillion/99

studied 3-3 1/2 minutes per day.

No in all seriousness these SDN scores are crazy. I might get mine this week or next. I have my fingers crossed. If I get my score and its in the 240s, believe me i won't be asking if I'm competitive for (fill in the blank program). Hoping for mid 230s. NBMEs were started around 220s, ended in low 240s.

when did you take it?

 

[Pimpilicious]

Well I thought I'd finally join the fun being as I've taken advantage of everyone's comments for years with no input of my own. Here you go:
MCAT: 29, GPA: 3.945-- Rejected from one school, wait-listed at the other until 2 weeks before class started.
Honored maybe half of the courses the first two years
Basic Science Shelf after classes ended: ~low 240's- didn't give an exact score, just correlation
Path Shelf: 700- similar score
USMLEWORLD: 71%
Real Deal: 260/99 ( I have no idea why they give a two digit score, it seems like everyone over 235 gets 99).
I started studying over spring break. By the time classes had ended I had gone through BRS phys, path, biochem and molecular, and first aid. This let me drop study time to 6-8 hours a day, 6 days a week for the last month. I used the same resources and went through everything two more times adding high yield histo and HY Brain and Behavior (a great book) to the group. The week before the test I made it through first aid two more times. In terms of Uworld, I ended up doing about 3000 questions (including marked and missed). If anyone still has to take/repeat/etc, I highly recommend Uworld and First aid (I am confident you could pull a 240 with just knowing FA cold). I felt the questions for UW were more difficult than the boards themselves.
So the test...whoever claims it is a "balanced" test for most is on some other planet. I walked out feeling like I had smashed it, two days later I had convinced myself I had failed. My test was the pelvis and repro- easy 30% if not more-lots of infectious disease and anatomy. Tons of biostats too. Not much of anything too awful hard for pharm, phys, or biochem. I was ready for some killer cardio and respiratory but didn't find either too bad.
If I could have changed anything, I would have taken off 2 days before the test, I was a little burned out on studying.

 

[UditNarayan]

solid stuff pimpilicious...

there was one person who was bragging about her score (~230) recently and proceeded to tell me that the max score was 250. since she was with her family, i couldnt tell her that this was not the case (she didnt even kno that i took the test this yr too)...she told me she took step 1 and not some other test (which was a question that came to mind)...weird, the damn score report even says that scores are between 140 and 260. thot it was very odd

 

[Pimpilicious]

solid stuff pimpilicious...

there was one person who was bragging about her score (~230) recently and proceeded to tell me that the max score was 250. since she was with her family, i couldnt tell her that this was not the case (she didnt even kno that i took the test this yr too)...she told me she took step 1 and not some other test (which was a question that came to mind)...weird, the damn score report even says that scores are between 140 and 260. thot it was very odd

I hear you brother- way to let her enjoy it. After all, anyone who can just pass the dang thing deserves respect.

 

[JeffLebowski]

solid stuff pimpilicious...

there was one person who was bragging about her score (~230) recently and proceeded to tell me that the max score was 250. since she was with her family, i couldnt tell her that this was not the case (she didnt even kno that i took the test this yr too)...she told me she took step 1 and not some other test (which was a question that came to mind)...weird, the damn score report even says that scores are between 140 and 260. thot it was very odd

That is strange - was she not aware you took Step 1 (and thus wouldn't need to be told [erroneously] what the "max score" was)?

 

[UditNarayan]

yea she actually didnt know that i took the test too! i was asking how med school was going and she started with this whole step 1 deal, since she just received her scores this month (like the rest of us). she was glowing as she told me all about it...im wondering where she got this idea from...

 

[LUBDUBB]

yea she actually didnt know that i took the test too! i was asking how med school was going and she started with this whole step 1 deal, since she just received her scores this month (like the rest of us). she was glowing as she told me all about it...im wondering where she got this idea from...

Thats the best story ever Udit; you're a classy guy, I would have dropped it on her right then and there, "Actually....."

I bet she thinks the two digit score is a percentile, and if she had anywhere near a 236/99, poor thing thinks she scored in the 99th percentile.

btw, strong work on step 1.

 

[Pimpilicious]

I think it is all hearsay. To be honest I don't even know what the max score is. I would assume 288 (6 blocksx48 Q's) but who knows. If anyone finds out officially where it is posted let us know.

 

[defcon8]

I think it is all hearsay. To be honest I don't even know what the max score is. I would assume 288 (6 blocksx48 Q's) but who knows. If anyone finds out officially where it is posted let us know.

i could have sworn i saw on one official site some time back that it was 281.. up to now i dont know anyone with higher. the highest i have actually seen is 278 and that guy claimed to have checked all his questions afterwards from memory and got 3 or 4 wrong. anyone knows of a score higher than 281?

 

[rubberducky24]

when did you take it?

Took it on July 5th...I'm assuming I will get my scores tonight/tomorrow. Unless I am one of the "unlucky few". Also hoping my score gets a bit of a bump from my NBMEs like it seems a few do. Obviously those that dropped 20 points from their NBMEs wouldn't post that here though.

 

[UditNarayan]

Thats the best story ever Udit; you're a classy guy, I would have dropped it on her right then and there, "Actually....."

I bet she thinks the two digit score is a percentile, and if she had anywhere near a 236/99, poor thing thinks she scored in the 99th percentile.

btw, strong work on step 1.

thanks lubdubb! as long as she's happy...altho im sure she'll find out sooner or later, let it be later.

good luck to those gettin scores back soon!!

 

[someoneelse]

At one of the national AMA conferences, I actually heard from tao le, one of the guys who writes First Aid, that the "theoretical" max on step 1 is 300.

 

[Blesbok]

At one of the national AMA conferences, I actually heard from tao le, one of the guys who writes First Aid, that the "theoretical" max on step 1 is 300.

That is what the tulane website says too, but I have never seen anything official from NBME.

 

[2cr8tive]

hi so i wrot the exam today ... cant believe im done, i'll leave the detailed stuff for when i have my results in a few weeks. i guess i had the easier version but i didnt take advantage of this and made a LOT OF stupid mistakes and this might have really damaged me on the easier exam version. anyways wut's done is done, i have a feeling i passed but i dont know yet. i wanted to thank all of you guys for your prompt and intuitive responses to my questions. i couldnt do it without you guys. good night

 

[ballaballa]

a bit of a stupid general question -

when everyone says they 'used' a book to study, or 'read through it' for the usmle, what exactly does that mean? i.e. read cover to cover and tried to memorize everything, or used a reference.

i know this is a bit of a stupid question, but just curious, seeing as it is quite tough to read and memorize 5-6 books cover to cover and memorize everything in the span of 5-8 weeks.

with that said, my aim is to at least know fa and rr path cold, and i will be likely spend much more than 5-8 weeks studying. my plan was to use fa and rr sort of as a study guide - learn them inside out and then supplement with other textbooks to explore some of the finer details associated with the bigger topics (i.e. most of metabolism in fa, among other things).

why do i ask? well after two years of ms (im an international student) wherein i tried to kill myself memorizing everything in lectures, i realized that this is not the most efficient way to study. although i didn't do badly in my first two years, i'm still looking for a better way to study. any pearls of wisdom ?

 

[hippocampus]

read it and understand it first, then memorize
read means read. not reference.
read does not mean memorize
read RR
memorize fa
understand all

 

[UditNarayan]

a bit of a stupid general question -

when everyone says they 'used' a book to study, or 'read through it' for the usmle, what exactly does that mean? i.e. read cover to cover and tried to memorize everything, or used a reference.

i know this is a bit of a stupid question, but just curious, seeing as it is quite tough to read and memorize 5-6 books cover to cover and memorize everything in the span of 5-8 weeks.

with that said, my aim is to at least know fa and rr path cold, and i will be likely spend much more than 5-8 weeks studying. my plan was to use fa and rr sort of as a study guide - learn them inside out and then supplement with other textbooks to explore some of the finer details associated with the bigger topics (i.e. most of metabolism in fa, among other things).

why do i ask? well after two years of ms (im an international student) wherein i tried to kill myself memorizing everything in lectures, i realized that this is not the most efficient way to study. although i didn't do badly in my first two years, i'm still looking for a better way to study. any pearls of wisdom ?

hey balla,

this was a question i had when i was doing my studying too...so many people would "read" so many books that with my slow reading speed, i couldnt understand how they could do it! my definition of using a book is taking my time to get through it...that means that i will go at my own pace to review the concepts, to make sure i can understand the ideas being thrown at me...i def do not "memorize" each source but i try to put all the new info into a context so that when i am asked a question about it, i have even a slight chance of recalling the concepts. im not a memorizer, but i tend to grasp the concepts the first time around and i personally tried to make use of this...so, in essence, when i "go thru a book" i read for understanding, but more importantly, i pick and choose my resources carefully. if 10 books worked for someone, 6 may work for me, and once i decided which sources to use, i made sure not to second guess my decisions.

 

[2cr8tive]

just wanted to add something here,

in my specific exam, the kaplan q bank was much more representative. i personally only did half of the kaplan q bank and didnt enjoy it much but loved usmle world. however, my exam was not like usmle world, it was like kaplan q bank.

i guess just try to do as many questions as u can

 

[DOCTORSAIB]

just wanted to add something here,

in my specific exam, the kaplan q bank was much more representative. i personally only did half of the kaplan q bank and didnt enjoy it much but loved usmle world. however, my exam was not like usmle world, it was like kaplan q bank.

i guess just try to do as many questions as u can

Agreed.

I'm beginning to see a shift this year. Everyone is so obsessed with UW that they're forgetting there are tons of other question sources out there (Qbank, Qbook, all 6 NBMEs, Robbins question book, BSS, Appleton & Lange, etc).

Just a couple of years ago, when UW for Step 1 wasn't really around, it was not uncommon to see top scorers on SDN do 8K-10K+ practice questions.

Guys, UW may be amazing but if you have the time and patience don't forget to rip through some of the other question sources. You can never go wrong with doing questions!

 

[Snuffbox]

I did 67% of Qbank and 25% of UW

I'm lazy as hell, but I felt pretty damn good about doing Qbank when all was said and done. I liked World and wish I had done more, but Qbank still is useful. It's efficacy really varies based on your personality and what you're looking for- some subjects, I liked Qbank better and others I liked World. I bought World the last week to hammer out some of my weak subjects so it was an adjunct to Qbank.

Bottom line, people have great success with both resources.

 

[JeffLebowski]

a bit of a stupid general question -

when everyone says they 'used' a book to study, or 'read through it' for the usmle, what exactly does that mean? i.e. read cover to cover and tried to memorize everything, or used a reference.

i know this is a bit of a stupid question, but just curious, seeing as it is quite tough to read and memorize 5-6 books cover to cover and memorize everything in the span of 5-8 weeks.

with that said, my aim is to at least know fa and rr path cold, and i will be likely spend much more than 5-8 weeks studying. my plan was to use fa and rr sort of as a study guide - learn them inside out and then supplement with other textbooks to explore some of the finer details associated with the bigger topics (i.e. most of metabolism in fa, among other things).

why do i ask? well after two years of ms (im an international student) wherein i tried to kill myself memorizing everything in lectures, i realized that this is not the most efficient way to study. although i didn't do badly in my first two years, i'm still looking for a better way to study. any pearls of wisdom ?

I mean for me, the more I memorize, the easier it is to "tie things together" and think conceptually. Most of med school and most of Step 1 is memorization. The format in which they put the questions makes it seem more difficult than that (which is where doing practice questions and honing your test taking skills comes in), but mostly that's it. Figure out what they're asking, eliminate all the answers that are definitely wrong, then sit down with your remaining candidates and rule them in or out based on the facts you know and the mechanisms you understand.

To answer your question (which is not a stupid question, I wondered the same thing): when you "read" or "go through" a book, do the same thing that has worked for you in the past with textbooks & course notes. For me, that was (1) highlighting & underlining in color-code & annotate, (2) making review sheets, (3) rereading comprehensively with all my highlighting etc. Keep track of your progress in each book, and transfer notes from separate books into FA.

My advice is:
(1) Get through FA once before you hit separate books and highlight/underline it the way you like it.
(2) Then as you go through individual books, read the appropriate FA chapter first (should only take 30-60 minutes), then go through the HY or BRS books or whatever. If something seems particularly important or something you may not remember, or wasn't in the FA chapter you just read and seems important, jot it in FA.

 

[kitt9000]

hi so i wrot the exam today ... cant believe im done, i'll leave the detailed stuff for when i have my results in a few weeks. i guess i had the easier version but i didnt take advantage of this and made a LOT OF stupid mistakes and this might have really damaged me on the easier exam version. anyways wut's done is done, i have a feeling i passed but i dont know yet. i wanted to thank all of you guys for your prompt and intuitive responses to my questions. i couldnt do it without you guys. good night

Wow, I havn't posted here since the MCATs...anywho, I also took the Step 1s in mid July and felt that my exam may have been an "easy one" but I made mistakes...as in missing questions that were pure one-liners...nothing tricky. I feel like I second guessed so many of those...my list of wrong items - A.K.A stupid mistakes - are up to about 22 now....sigh. I also felt that my guesses were much more educated during the NBMEs than the real thing...can't say why. And to make things worse, my evil list doesn't even include the wierd Path/pathophys q's that they always throw in all the blocks. My NBME before the exam was 224 but honestly, I really can't imagine hitting that anymore. I'm also hoping to pass at this point.

I'm not sure how many stupid mistakes we can make and still do decent (>200). so depressed....anyone else also felt the same and did well?

 

[BrisketAttack]

kitt,

although I was scoring well in my nbmes, I left step 1 feeling horrid. It turned out fine. Though it's tough to do, try not to obessess until your step 1 result arrives. I predict a 234 for you.

 

[2cr8tive]

Wow, I havn't posted here since the MCATs...anywho, I also took the Step 1s in mid July and felt that my exam may have been an "easy one" but I made mistakes...as in missing questions that were pure one-liners...nothing tricky. I feel like I second guessed so many of those...my list of wrong items - A.K.A stupid mistakes - are up to about 22 now....sigh. I also felt that my guesses were much more educated during the NBMEs than the real thing...can't say why. And to make things worse, my evil list doesn't even include the wierd Path/pathophys q's that they always throw in all the blocks. My NBME before the exam was 224 but honestly, I really can't imagine hitting that anymore. I'm also hoping to pass at this point.

I'm not sure how many stupid mistakes we can make and still do decent (>200). so depressed....anyone else also felt the same and did well?

wow u just described my exact experience and even nbme scores. i also felt like i made better guesses during nbme but we just have to wait and see. except a few, i havent checked any cuz i saw a i had done many mistakes. or easy things i just couldnt remember. i wish it was allowed and i could tell u the mistakes i made and u'd laugh 🙂 just have to wait and see. lets hope for the best

 

[kitt9000]

wow u just described my exact experience and even nbme scores. i also felt like i made better guesses during nbme but we just have to wait and see. except a few, i havent checked any cuz i saw a i had done many mistakes. or easy things i just couldnt remember. i wish it was allowed and i could tell u the mistakes i made and u'd laugh 🙂 just have to wait and see. lets hope for the best

Thanks Brisket and 2cr8tive...just to know someone else felt the same makes me feel that I'm not alone with the way I feel. Honestly, yeah for some reason, I felt there were things that I should've known and have seen but couldn't remember and somehow convinced myself to pick the alternate wrong answer.

Well, I took the exam on July 17th to be exact so I'm hoping to get my score sometime within the next 2 weeks. At this point who knows whether the score will make me feel better or start another set of plans to study all over again...oh, I get tired just thinking of having to do this damn test all over again...I guess I'm really counting on that NBME score prediction thing to come through (even if it means predicting simply a "pass" at this point)....

 

[fever106]

Don't get to down on yourself yet Kitt9000. My exam was kind of weird. I had one section with like 10 statistics questions, and I outright guessed on half of those (I only studied a tiny bit of stats, like what was in the last chapter of BRS behavioral, and these questions were ridiculously difficult). I had some sections that were pretty straightforward, and some that felt like I was guessing between two answers on every other question. From what I have heard, it is normal to feel this way. When I walked out of the test, I had no idea how I did, and I couldn't even remember any of the questions except for the handful that I really agonized over. Then, over the next few days I started looking up my "unsure" answers...big mistake! This is a classic pitfall and all it does is freak you out. You will of course only remember what you got wrong or had trouble with. You won't remember the vast majority of questions that you probably got correct because they were not a problem for you. I started trying to count all my stupid mistakes, and once I got up to about 12 or so, I started panicking and I stopped in my tracks. It is a major waste of time and effort for several reasons: First of all, a healthy chunk of the questions on your test were experimental and won't be counted in your score, you just don't know which ones. Second of all, how many you can miss and still get a certain score depends on a complicated grading curve/system that you don't have any control over. Third of all, it makes 4-6 weeks of your life miserable, and likely for nothing! I walked out not having a clue how I did, and over the next couple weeks I convinced myself that I might have bombed. In the end, I got a 247/99. Just put it out of your mind for a while, and deal with the score when it comes.

 

[SupremeSurgeon]

Well I thought I'd finally join the fun being as I've taken advantage of everyone's comments for years with no input of my own. Here you go:
MCAT: 29, GPA: 3.945-- Rejected from one school, wait-listed at the other until 2 weeks before class started.
Honored maybe half of the courses the first two years
Basic Science Shelf after classes ended: ~low 240's- didn't give an exact score, just correlation
Path Shelf: 700- similar score
USMLEWORLD: 71%
Real Deal: 260/99 ( I have no idea why they give a two digit score, it seems like everyone over 235 gets 99).
I started studying over spring break. By the time classes had ended I had gone through BRS phys, path, biochem and molecular, and first aid. This let me drop study time to 6-8 hours a day, 6 days a week for the last month. I used the same resources and went through everything two more times adding high yield histo and HY Brain and Behavior (a great book) to the group. The week before the test I made it through first aid two more times. In terms of Uworld, I ended up doing about 3000 questions (including marked and missed). If anyone still has to take/repeat/etc, I highly recommend Uworld and First aid (I am confident you could pull a 240 with just knowing FA cold). I felt the questions for UW were more difficult than the boards themselves.
So the test...whoever claims it is a "balanced" test for most is on some other planet. I walked out feeling like I had smashed it, two days later I had convinced myself I had failed. My test was the pelvis and repro- easy 30% if not more-lots of infectious disease and anatomy. Tons of biostats too. Not much of anything too awful hard for pharm, phys, or biochem. I was ready for some killer cardio and respiratory but didn't find either too bad.
If I could have changed anything, I would have taken off 2 days before the test, I was a little burned out on studying.

Last time I checked, there were only 2000 questions on UW. Perhaps, the key to a 260 is to do an additional 1000 phantom questions.

 

[UditNarayan]

Last time I checked, there were only 2000 questions on UW. Perhaps, the key to a 260 is to do an additional 1000 phantom questions.

it sounds like this includes marked and incorrect...ie when i finished my set of UW questions, i went back and redid the incorrect and some of the marked. depending on how many this is, it could be substantially more than the 2200ish.

 

[osli]

Sorry i'm confused. Does your school give you 3 months off to study for step 1? Or did you study 4-5 hours a day in addition to school. The schools I know of only have about 6-7 weeks between M2 year and the beginning of rotations.

Our school's schedule allows about 5 weeks of perfectly free time if you take no breaks between the end of the 'normal' spring semester and the start of the summer semester. However, the summer schedule is very very light (suturing clinics, lectures on how to stay out of trouble, some light review on admit orders and such) with little to no study required and typically just half-days of class for 3 or 4 days a week. That's another 6 weeks. In addition, I started before spring classes were over. In fact, I guess you could say I studied for more than 3 months... I started board review around Christmas time. However, that was mostly listening to Goljan while driving, don't Kaplan questions since I won the 3 months here on SDN, and some lightish reading over stuff that had interested me but I never bothered to look up before. No "serious" study where I tried to actually memorize or retain anything until around March/April.

So I probably put in a lot of 1 or 2 hour "study days" in Jan/Feb/March, ramping up to a couple of hours on most days in late March and April, a more consistent "few" hours per day in later April and May, and then a pretty consistent 5 hours or so on most days in June. Occasionally I'd read well into the night and would rack up an 8 or 10 hour day, and then lots of days went by where golf or some other activity cut it back to just a set or two of 50 questions and nothing else for the day.

I wouldn't say that my study method is for everybody, but it certainly worked for me to help me retain both a life and my sanity. In the end, I probably put in as many hours as the next guy... I just paced myself over a much longer period. And I answered for myself at least that ages old SDN question... how long can you study or how early can you start? I had thought all along that early reading to get the big picture in areas where I had missed it would be very useful when it came time to memorize/stuff the details into that big picture. And I was right. For me, that is.

For reference, here are the resources I used in case anyone has the wrong idea (i.e., thinks that it is wise to laze yourself through board prep based on my experience):

Kaplan qbank (50%)
USMLE World (100% x2)
FA 2007 (x3)
RR Path
www.pathguy.com
Robbins Review
BRS Physiology
CMMRS
(new edition) HY CMB (x2)
Rapid EKG Interpretation
RR Biochem
Lippincott's illustrated review biochem (x2)
HY Brain and Behavior
Class Neuro notes
USMLE Roadmap pharm
USMLE Recall

 

[Pimpilicious]

Last time I checked, there were only 2000 questions on UW. Perhaps, the key to a 260 is to do an additional 1000 phantom questions.

So when it says, "In terms of Uworld, I ended up doing about 3000 questions (including marked and missed)", the trick to understanding this tough phrase is to read the word "including". If you go to one of the windows in UW it shows the total number of questions you have completed. For me, it was around 3000, including, here's the kicker, questions done more than once. Now I am going out on the limb here to assume that there are people out there (like osli) who could have done, I don't know, maybe 4000 total. That includes 2000 phantom questions in this case. I appreciate the cynicism showed by some people here that seem to have the time to go through various posts just to make sure that they are not filling everyone else full of, well, number 2. Congrats to all those who passed step 1 from a non-cynical friend.

 

[kitt9000]

Thanks Brisket and 2cr8tive...just to know someone else felt the same makes me feel that I'm not alone with the way I feel. Honestly, yeah for some reason, I felt there were things that I should've known and have seen but couldn't remember and somehow convinced myself to pick the alternate wrong answer.

Well, I took the exam on July 17th to be exact so I'm hoping to get my score sometime within the next 2 weeks. At this point who knows whether the score will make me feel better or start another set of plans to study all over again...oh, I get tired just thinking of having to do this damn test all over again...I guess I'm really counting on that NBME score prediction thing to come through (even if it means predicting simply a "pass" at this point)....

Well, I got my score today and I have to say I'm relieved and very happy with the result. After completely convincing myself that my NBME could not possibly predict my actual score, it actually was very close. NBME was 224, actual score is 228/95. Not an SDN score but it definitely met my personal goals especially after the way I had been obsessing over making a list of questions that I goofed on. The funny thing was that I kept this list on my PDA and took it everywhere I went so that if I thought of a question and realized that I had gotten i wrong, I could add it to my list and then sync it back with my computer. Now that's crazy.

Anyhow, I just wanted to really thank some of the posters above for their encouraging words. It really did help me feel better. Thanks again and good luck to everyone who's still waiting on their scores!

 

[satsuma]

USMLE: 250's

I studied for about 3 months. Wouldn't change a thing. Took plenty of time off, took lots of breaks, played golf and watched lots of TV. Might have put in a couple of solid 8 hour days during the whole study period, but most days were more like 4-5 hours. Read lots of books, most "as novels" and not trying to memorize everything. Stayed very relaxed, enjoyed my life through most of the study period, and didn't get very stressed until just a couple of days before. I suppose I could have ate/slept/breathed medicine for three weeks and accomplished the same thing, but what fun is that?

Bottom line - know yourself, know what works for you and what you can tolerate, and study accordingly.

i'm on a similar plan, about 3 weeks into and am actually ENJOYING my learning for med school for the first time in 2 years. i just want to say it's sooo encouraging to hear about a sane approach and your healthy perspective. the "sanity is important" approach is not popular at my school so it's cool to have it validated. anyway, thanks.

and congrats on your score 🙂

 

[genan131]

If you are a first or second year the best thing you can do is study the stuff you're taught. I found the topics I tried the hardest in during my first two years (either cause I liked them or was randomly motivated at the time) where the areas I didn't need to study for much and the areas I did best on the test.
And, second year stuff you will need to know for third year and I'm assuming later.
For me, I peaked at 3 weeks studying 6-8 hours on the weekdays - the last of my 4 weeks planned was crap.

 

[jey2283]

I thought I'd add my 2 cents too.

Stats:
SGU student w/ 3.8+ gpa
NBME 3= 248
NBME 4= 245
free 150 questions: 88% correct
Step1 = 241

Official Program used: Falcon Retreat
Study materials:
Falcon books (&live lecture), Kaplan books (Center-prep videos-selected), UW (roughly 73% correct w/ 50% completed)

How i studied:
Before going to the retreat (ie during classes) i watched the kaplan tapes for 1. pharmacology (concurrent with the class) 2. anatomy (just passively watched) 3. biochemistry (passively watched) 4. some micro (passively watched) 5. selected physiology (cardiology-respiratory actively took notes for class during pathophys).

During pathology i had listen to most of Goljan tapes.

During the retreat: i just did the live lectures and read. I didn't do many questions there. After the retreat i took 3.5 weeks to review and do problems. It took me 2 weeks to review everything we did at the retreat. Then i did 1.5 weeks of just questions.


My opinion:
This test was not a hard test (if you can read english well, as the questions can be lengthy).

I saw more nutrition questions then i thought i would have. Very little pharmacology. Very basic biochemistry. (Yes, i did get As in these classes).


My Biased recommendation:
Just to Pass- First Aid (BE WARE OF ERRORS!) & Goljan Book (NOT THE BOOT LEG..the real book).

To Rock it:
Know goljan book inside and out (we didn't have time to do this, i'll still finish reading it....but if u can do it before u sit for the exam ur going to be sitting pretty).

Katzung Pharmacology (read it all the way during ur pharm class and you will get all of it right). (over kill)

Kaplan Centerprep pharm with Frenchie. THis guy is the man. ENough said. Know the kaplan material and you will also hit all the pharm questions (over kill). Focus on Cardiac drugs, Respiratory Drugs, Anti Cancer, Antimicrobial.

Anatomy: i loved the kaplan video for this ( i think it was superior to falcon anatomy). (same for embryo..i must have had like 8 questions on embryo on the exam..i think first aid was enough).

Neuro: Falcon gives u just enough details. They did a great job with neuro anatomy. Kaplan gives you a LOT of details. Very well done. So it's a toss up. If you have a thirst for knowledge..go kaplan..if you just want to do well on the test..falcon. If you have time to do kaplan during med school..i'd recommend that.

Biochemistry: falcon's live lecture biochem was enough to get the queestions right. If you really want a solid understanding, i recommend kaplan tapes with falcon to review big picture. (I prefer the older ones with the Frenchie)

Genetics: i only did falcon on this. It seemed very good. (it is also a part of goljan's book). This was the same for nutrition (which became high yield for my test) (do the UW questions for genetics and biostats and you will get all of them right on the real exam, i'm sure of it).

Micro: we had dr. dunn teach at falcon. He was EXCELLENT. Total over kill though. I only watched half of kaplan tapes though, so it's hard for me to compare. He did use to teach for kaplan,so i'm sure they are very similar. The falcon color pictures for micro was very nice to hvae.

Immuno: kaplan wins hands down. Although taught by dunn at our retreat, the organization in kaplan i thought was superior. Having said that...everything mentioned in falcon was enough to answer all questions on the exam.

Physiology: kaplan wins for cardio. I didn't attend the live lectures for endocrine, GI, or respiratory. I was dissapointed with the cardio section that i broke away and just did kaplan tapes. I heard our endocrine guy was really good and same with respiratory. I am partial to the black guy from the islands on the kaplan tapes for physiology. The notes for endocrine (falcon) were enough to answer questions (same for GI).

Behavior: i didn't see any kaplan material for this. I read first aid and did our live lectures. I think it covered it all. THis turned out to be my weak spot 🙁 probably bc i kept putting it off and concentrated on what i thought was the harder material (my bad).

Path: Goljan all the way. This guy is both inspirational and an amazing teacher. I felt like such a dick for bootlegging his stuff when i was taking classes 🙁. Never again poppie! (if you don't read his stuff before taking the exam you are doing yourself a disservice).

HISTOLOGY!!! YES! it did show up on my exam (4 questions). I happend to read it for the first time the NIGHT before the exam (THANK GOD). I did kaplan for that. We didn't even touch it in falcon. I didn't do the UW questions for this.

Audio visual: i got 2 questions. One heart sound. I hate these questions (i think i missed most of these..in fact..i know i did 🙁 ). The questions i am referring to are the "what would you do given the diagnosis." They played an audio of a murmur and then asked what you would do " leave it alone, correct it, etc..." I HAVE NO IDEA. This style question came up many (ie 5+) times on my exam. Maybe i would have rocked it SDN style if i could get those answers correct! (many behavior and ethics questions were like this).

Summary: Once again..that massive debate btw falcon and kaplan: its a 50/50 split. Each one has a better aspect..but Goljan for me was the swing vote (esp when i had access to the kaplan tapes).

SUPER DUPER SUMMARY: Do you need a retreat?? If you did well in school...i think you can do it on ur own. First Aid (minus the corrections) + Goljan Book (read all the way) + Solid foundation should yield a solid score. I did the retreat to make sure i didn't forget anything!

Wishes: I wish i would have been able to get a hold of the centerprep tapes earlier. My friend was able to get it for xmas vacation (and went through it during that break). I would have much preferred learning boards stuff then siting on a cruise ship watching my skin burn and freckle.

Working UW: This bank is ridiculously hard. NO QUESTIONs were that hard on the exam (at least on mine). The test is VERY VERY VERY comparable to NBME (mine was). If you can hit 240+ on 2 NBMEs then ur ready to sit for the exam. Yeah yeah yeah, i heard the same thing also and said "oh really, interesting" and kept studying 🙂 Anyways, you've been officially warned 😛

I think that's all i have to say about that. Good luck!

Aside: These SDN score are very impressive!!! LoL before sitting for the exam i kept hearing hard the test was..and people scoring in 220s which is still great.. but then u read this forum and its really 240+. LoL in a way i feel as if i let the forum down.

Double Aside: If you didn't do well during classes you are not doomed to do poorly on the exam. I think the correlation btw GPA and Board scores is related only to study ethics (not smarts--let's face it..u did get into medical school..u r smart). Work hard, isolate yourself from distractions, push yourself from day one of studying, and you can do really well on the exam. (there are limits to this, you can NOT teach yourself 2 years of material in 2 months..but you can easily review the material and brush up on weak areas).

Happy to answer emails PM Me.

 

[Lamborghini1315]

I thought I'd add my 2 cents too.

Stats:
SGU student w/ 3.8+ gpa
NBME 3= 248
NBME 4= 245
Step1 = 240s

Official Program used: Falcon Retreat
Study materials:
Falcon books (&live lecture), Kaplan books (Center-prep videos-selected), UW (roughly 73% correct w/ 50% completed)

How i studied:
Before going to the retreat (ie during classes) i watched the kaplan tapes for 1. pharmacology (concurrent with the class) 2. anatomy (just passively watched) 3. biochemistry (passively watched) 4. some micro (passively watched) 5. selected physiology (cardiology-respiratory actively took notes for class during pathophys).

During pathology i had listen to most of Goljan tapes.

During the retreat: i just did the live lectures and read. I didn't do many questions there. After the retreat i took 3.5 weeks to review and do problems. It took me 2 weeks to review everything we did at the retreat. Then i did 1.5 weeks of just questions.


My opinion:
This test was not a hard test (if you can read english well, as the questions can be lengthy).

I saw more nutrition questions then i thought i would have. Very little pharmacology. Very basic biochemistry. (Yes, i did get As in these classes).


My Biased recommendation:
Just to Pass- First Aid (BE WARE OF ERRORS!) & Goljan Book (NOT THE BOOT LEG..the real book).

To Rock it:
Know goljan book inside and out (we didn't have time to do this, i'll still finish reading it....but if u can do it before u sit for the exam ur going to be sitting pretty).

Katzung Pharmacology (read it all the way during ur pharm class and you will get all of it right). (over kill)

Kaplan Centerprep pharm with Frenchie. THis guy is the man. ENough said. Know the kaplan material and you will also hit all the pharm questions (over kill). Focus on Cardiac drugs, Respiratory Drugs, Anti Cancer, Antimicrobial.

Anatomy: i loved the kaplan video for this ( i think it was superior to falcon anatomy). (same for embryo..i must have had like 8 questions on embryo on the exam..i think first aid was enough).

Neuro: Falcon gives u just enough details. They did a great job with neuro anatomy. Kaplan gives you a LOT of details. Very well done. So it's a toss up. If you have a thirst for knowledge..go kaplan..if you just want to do well on the test..falcon. If you have time to do kaplan during med school..i'd recommend that.

Biochemistry: falcon's live lecture biochem was enough to get the queestions right. If you really want a solid understanding, i recommend kaplan tapes with falcon to review big picture. (I prefer the older ones with the Frenchie)

Genetics: i only did falcon on this. It seemed very good. (it is also a part of goljan's book). This was the same for nutrition (which became high yield for my test) (do the UW questions for genetics and biostats and you will get all of them right on the real exam, i'm sure of it).

Micro: we had dr. dunn teach at falcon. He was EXCELLENT. Total over kill though. I only watched half of kaplan tapes though, so it's hard for me to compare. He did use to teach for kaplan,so i'm sure they are very similar. The falcon color pictures for micro was very nice to hvae.

Immuno: kaplan wins hands down. Although taught by dunn at our retreat, the organization in kaplan i thought was superior. Having said that...everything mentioned in falcon was enough to answer all questions on the exam.

Physiology: kaplan wins for cardio. I didn't attend the live lectures for endocrine, GI, or respiratory. I was dissapointed with the cardio section that i broke away and just did kaplan tapes. I heard our endocrine guy was really good and same with respiratory. I am partial to the black guy from the islands on the kaplan tapes for physiology. The notes for endocrine (falcon) were enough to answer questions (same for GI).

Behavior: i didn't see any kaplan material for this. I read first aid and did our live lectures. I think it covered it all. THis turned out to be my weak spot 🙁 probably bc i kept putting it off and concentrated on what i thought was the harder material (my bad).

Path: Goljan all the way. This guy is both inspirational and an amazing teacher. I felt like such a dick for bootlegging his stuff when i was taking classes 🙁. Never again poppie! (if you don't read his stuff before taking the exam you are doing yourself a disservice).

HISTOLOGY!!! YES! it did show up on my exam (4 questions). I happend to read it for the first time the NIGHT before the exam (THANK GOD). I did kaplan for that. We didn't even touch it in falcon. I didn't do the UW questions for this.

Audio visual: i got 2 questions. One heart sound. I hate these questions (i think i missed most of these..in fact..i know i did 🙁 ). The questions i am referring to are the "what would you do given the diagnosis." They played an audio of a murmur and then asked what you would do " leave it alone, correct it, etc..." I HAVE NO IDEA. This style question came up many (ie 5+) times on my exam. Maybe i would have rocked it SDN style if i could get those answers correct! (many behavior and ethics questions were like this).

Summary: Once again..that massive debate btw falcon and kaplan: its a 50/50 split. Each one has a better aspect..but Goljan for me was the swing vote (esp when i had access to the kaplan tapes).

SUPER DUPER SUMMARY: Do you need a retreat?? If you did well in school...i think you can do it on ur own. First Aid (minus the corrections) + Goljan Book (read all the way) + Solid foundation should yield a solid score. I did the retreat to make sure i didn't forget anything!

Wishes: I wish i would have been able to get a hold of the centerprep tapes earlier. My friend was able to get it for xmas vacation (and went through it during that break). I would have much preferred learning boards stuff then siting on a cruise ship watching my skin burn and freckle.

Working UW: This bank is ridiculously hard. NO QUESTIONs were that hard on the exam (at least on mine). The test is VERY VERY VERY comparable to NBME (mine was). If you can hit 240+ on 2 NBMEs then ur ready to sit for the exam. Yeah yeah yeah, i heard the same thing also and said "oh really, interesting" and kept studying 🙂 Anyways, you've been officially warned 😛

I think that's all i have to say about that. Good luck!

Aside: These SDN score are very impressive!!! LoL before sitting for the exam i kept hearing hard the test was..and people scoring in 220s which is still great.. but then u read this forum and its really 240+. LoL in a way i feel as if i let the forum down.

Double Aside: If you didn't do well during classes you are not doomed to do poorly on the exam. I think the correlation btw GPA and Board scores is related only to study ethics (not smarts--let's face it..u did get into medical school..u r smart). Work hard, isolate yourself from distractions, push yourself from day one of studying, and you can do really well on the exam. (there are limits to this, you can NOT teach yourself 2 years of material in 2 months..but you can easily review the material and brush up on weak areas).

Happy to answer emails PM Me.

That's the bottom line 👍

 

[UditNarayan]

Congrats on your score jey2283..... Something to remember for you 2nd yr students: stay true to what has worked for you...some students learn well from lectures so figure out a way to incorporate your natural learning style to your prep, don't fight it...i knew that i would fall asleep/get nothing out of lecture so i stayed away from tapes, dvds, audio lectures, etc...and learned as visually as possible. good luck!

 

[BillyRubinstein]

NBME 1 - 219
NBME 2 - 226
NBME 6 - 206
NBME 5 - 226
NBME 4 - 228

Step 1 - 239/99 - couldn't be happier!

Very proud to represent St. George's University of Grenada - hoping for a Neurology residency at a very good program......I'm pretty ecstatic right now 👍

 

[skm95]

My goal: Crack Mean+1SD (244)

My score: 240

My serious study time: 8 weeks

My resources:
Kaplan DVDs (CenterPrep)
Kaplan Books (for all subjects) (2x)
FA-2007 (3x)
Goljan audio (50%)
Galjan Rapid Review Pathology (2x)
Kaplan Qbank (75%), Avg. = 66%
UW (100%), Avg. = 68%

My Assessment scores:
Qbook - 73%
NBME4 - 228
Free150/Sample (@ prometric) = 85%
NBME5 - 234
UW - 242

My exam:
Block 1 & 2 = Same difficulty level as NBME(s)
Block 3 & 4 = Harder than NBME(s), easier than UW
Block 5 = Same level as UW
Block 6 = ridiculously difficult!!
Block 7 = more difficult than UW

The bulk of my exam was Patho & Pathophys, as I expected. I had more Gross Anatomy than I expected. But based on the performance profile of my score report, I performed lowest on behavioral science. In fact the performance-band is almost touching "Lower performance" Line 😱; I am sure not many 240+ can claim that! 🙄

My recommendations:
Make a schedule and follow it. Study all subjects in detail.

Good luck to all those who are still studying and congratulations to everyone who have passed. Also thanks to all for sharing your experiences.

*Attached: My UW/Qbank/Assessment progress chart.

 

[owenmichael]

My goal: Crack Mean+1SD (244)

My score: 240

My serious study time: 8 weeks

My resources:
Kaplan DVDs (CenterPrep)
Kaplan Books (for all subjects) (2x)
FA-2007 (3x)
Goljan audio (50%)
Galjan Rapid Review Pathology (2x)
Kaplan Qbank (75%), Avg. = 66%
UW (100%), Avg. = 68%

My Assessment scores:
Qbook - 73%
NBME4 - 228
Free150/Sample (@ prometric) = 85%
NBME5 - 234
UW - 242

My exam:
Block 1 & 2 = Same difficulty level as NBME(s)
Block 3 & 4 = Harder than NBME(s), easier than UW
Block 5 = Same level as UW
Block 6 = ridiculously difficult!!
Block 7 = more difficult than UW

The bulk of my exam was Patho & Pathophys, as I expected. I had more Gross Anatomy than I expected. But based on the performance profile of my score report, I performed lowest on behavioral science. In fact the performance-band is almost touching "Lower performance" Line 😱; I am sure not many 240+ can claim that! 🙄

My recommendations:
Make a schedule and follow it. Study all subjects in detail.

Good luck to all those who are still studying and congratulations to everyone who have passed. Also thanks to all for sharing your experiences.

*Attached: My UW/Qbank/Assessment progress chart.

Tell me about behavioral science! My line was right smack in the middle of the gray lower performance line. Makes me wonder how much better I could have done if I hadn't answered those ethics questions stupidly.

CBSE (took a few weeks before our dedicated 5 week study period): 234
NBME5 (took 2 weeks before my exam after two weeks of study): 232 --> Yes I was incredibly pissed.
UW Average (last 7): 76%
Kaplan Average (last 7): 75%
Real Thing: 250/99

Very happy, still weirded out by my behavioral science score. I always answered with the most opened ended, sensitive answers. Also, I felt like I was getting biostats questions right that weren't even in first aid (damn, maybe they were experimental). Ironically enough, "behavioral science" was the only section I felt super confident about walking out of the test.

Try not to get obsessed with this test. I know its hard... but if you have a strong foundation in med school, you'll be fine. I do remember feeling like I was pulling alot of random facts and "clinical thinking" from what I had learned in class, not really first aid (although there was a ton of straight up 2nd order regurg from first aid). Remember this score is important but FAR from everything when it comes to residency (I felt like our school overemphasized its importance).

 

[jey2283]

I'm one that can claim that 🙁 i had all above average except for 2 below. I shake my fist at behavior.

My goal: Crack Mean+1SD (244)

My score: 240

My serious study time: 8 weeks

My resources:
Kaplan DVDs (CenterPrep)
Kaplan Books (for all subjects) (2x)
FA-2007 (3x)
Goljan audio (50%)
Galjan Rapid Review Pathology (2x)
Kaplan Qbank (75%), Avg. = 66%
UW (100%), Avg. = 68%

My Assessment scores:
Qbook - 73%
NBME4 - 228
Free150/Sample (@ prometric) = 85%
NBME5 - 234
UW - 242

My exam:
Block 1 & 2 = Same difficulty level as NBME(s)
Block 3 & 4 = Harder than NBME(s), easier than UW
Block 5 = Same level as UW
Block 6 = ridiculously difficult!!
Block 7 = more difficult than UW

The bulk of my exam was Patho & Pathophys, as I expected. I had more Gross Anatomy than I expected. But based on the performance profile of my score report, I performed lowest on behavioral science. In fact the performance-band is almost touching "Lower performance" Line 😱; I am sure not many 240+ can claim that! 🙄

My recommendations:
Make a schedule and follow it. Study all subjects in detail.

Good luck to all those who are still studying and congratulations to everyone who have passed. Also thanks to all for sharing your experiences.

*Attached: My UW/Qbank/Assessment progress chart.

 

[tralfamadorian]

Never posted, but I have been reading stuff on this forum for a while. Thought it would be nice to contribute a little.

I studied for about 4.5 weeks, 6 days/week, 8 h/d on average. Followed the Penn Method, but cut a few sections short. Didn't really study anatomy much, just went over first aid a few times in the last week of studying. Also didn't review behavioral sciences too much. Funny though because I ended up doing really well on these sections on the real thing (I did know psychiatry really well though before starting to study).

I finished USMLEWorld with 72% correct (I think the score prediction from that is a 257 or something). I highly recommend this as a question source, although the actual exam had questions on it that were as difficult as the hardest UW questions, the average difficulty on the real thing was easier.

I mostly used Penn Method books. Didn't spend too much time reading though (maybe 6 hours per day?), as I did questions every night and read all of the explanations.

Score: 250/99.

Very pleased, as 250 was my goal. My weak sections were pharmacology (I am not the best at rote memorization), and biochemistry (probably because I thought a lot of the random crap they test in this is clinically irrelevant...). First Aid is amazing, it really helped to read it once again the week before the test. I memorized the micro section, which was a perceived weak point, two days before the test, which allowed me to rip a new one in that section of the test.

Didn't sleep but 2 hours the night before the exam, which is typical for me for some reason. No need to be worried... Just do enough questions so that you have the endurance for the 8 hour marathon that is Step 1. I ramped up the questions to 150/d the last few days before the test and 300 two days before it. That seemed to do the trick.

Good luck, everyone. My biggest piece of advice is don't study for too long... 4-5 weeks is enough. You start going crazy and forgetting stuff you already learned. Focus on the big picture and integrating everything. That way, you will actually get something out of the experience other than just a couple of numbers. Memory work is necessary (yes it sucks), but don't focus on that until a week before the exam.

 

[zaranoor]

I am so embarrassed and saddened to write this but since this is a forum about Step 1 exam experiences, I thought I would share my experience with you all so you learn from me what not to do since I did not pass Step 1 exam. I took Falcon retreat program and followed their method 100% - using only their books, audiotapes, UW questions (completed 100% under timed and mixed, averaged about 60%), and reviewed my weak areas using Falcon material. I read First Aid twice and took NBME 1 in which I got 210. I felt safe and confident to go into the exam. I wanted to do more NBME’s but really ran out of time since I had time pressure to go into rotations. It is quite tiring to do 7 week retreat course and then prep another 4-6 weeks after course with tons of questions (trying to get through all UW explanations) and constant review. I averaged about 10-12 hours of study a day, and took one day off a week for errands, family, catch up on sleep, groceries, exercise, etc.

On my Step 1 exam, I had about 20-30 questions on physiology especially with arrows, and a lot of nutrition and histology which was quite surprising. People remember what they struggle with and those are the topics I was surprised to see on the exam. Other topics were pretty much in a broad range – some biochem, some pharm, couple of neuro pictures, few micro, etc.

I really thank jey2283 for his insight as he took Falcon but he supplemented with Kaplan material. That sounds like a smart move. Before, I found it nuts that people at Falcon were reading Kaplan material at the same time. Some told me it takes a long time to read through Kaplan books so I just focused solely on Falcon high-yield material and I believed their hype. Now, in retrospect, I really wish I had used Kaplan material instead. Different things work for different people! This exam studying is definitely not one size fit all.

I am buckling down and trying again. This time, I will do something different and change my study ethics…I plan to throw away Falcon books and tapes, and use Kaplan books (friends have given me theirs), Kaplan QBook, do UW twice, and memorize First Aid fully. I will also take all the NBME’s. I would appreciate any tips on schedule and how I should approach it this time around. How long should be the next time I take it? I can’t figure out if I should memorize details more or study my knowledge base more by reading Kaplan books. Thank you.

 

[hj0517]

I should really stop coming on here because posts like that freak me out!

 

[Neo2011]

I am so embarrassed and saddened to write this but since this is a forum about Step 1 exam experiences, I thought I would share my experience with you all so you learn from me what not to do since I did not pass Step 1 exam. I took Falcon retreat program and followed their method 100% - using only their books, audiotapes, UW questions (completed 100% under timed and mixed, averaged about 60%), and reviewed my weak areas using Falcon material. I read First Aid twice and took NBME 1 in which I got 210. I felt safe and confident to go into the exam. I wanted to do more NBME’s but really ran out of time since I had time pressure to go into rotations. It is quite tiring to do 7 week retreat course and then prep another 4-6 weeks after course with tons of questions (trying to get through all UW explanations) and constant review. I averaged about 10-12 hours of study a day, and took one day off a week for errands, family, catch up on sleep, groceries, exercise, etc.

On my Step 1 exam, I had about 20-30 questions on physiology especially with arrows, and a lot of nutrition and histology which was quite surprising. People remember what they struggle with and those are the topics I was surprised to see on the exam. Other topics were pretty much in a broad range – some biochem, some pharm, couple of neuro pictures, few micro, etc.

I really thank jey2283 for his insight as he took Falcon but he supplemented with Kaplan material. That sounds like a smart move. Before, I found it nuts that people at Falcon were reading Kaplan material at the same time. Some told me it takes a long time to read through Kaplan books so I just focused solely on Falcon high-yield material and I believed their hype. Now, in retrospect, I really wish I had used Kaplan material instead. Different things work for different people! This exam studying is definitely not one size fit all.

I am buckling down and trying again. This time, I will do something different and change my study ethics…I plan to throw away Falcon books and tapes, and use Kaplan books (friends have given me theirs), Kaplan QBook, do UW twice, and memorize First Aid fully. I will also take all the NBME’s. I would appreciate any tips on schedule and how I should approach it this time around. How long should be the next time I take it? I can’t figure out if I should memorize details more or study my knowledge base more by reading Kaplan books. Thank you.

thank you for sharing your experience. Best of luck to you.

 

[someoneelse]

Long time lurker, 2nd time poster.

Got a lot of good information about how to study from the forum. Now that I got the scores back, I feel like I should contribute.

Practice Tests
NBME3 240...6 weeks before the test (before studying)
NBME4 265...1 week before the test
UW 80% correct...100% completed...sections of 50 questions on particular topics after I have reviewed the topic the day I took the test
Kaplan 80% correct ...40% completed...sections of 50 random questions - All done the week before the test

STEP1 score 266/99

Went to one of those schools that have a 1.5 year preclinical curriculum, so I had the opportunity to take my medicine rotation right before I started studying. I gave myself 6 weeks to study which I thought was too much. I felt like I peaked at 4 or 5 days before the test, and the last couple of days I just started to forget information. I left the test thinking I could have missed something like 40 to 50 question. I volunteer this information because after I took the test I wanted to know how other people felt right after the test and correlate that with what their score was at the end. So even if you think you missed quite a bit of questions you never know how much of them were experimental and how much of them you actually got right.

I made a plan for my studies which I thought was absolutely instrumental. I modified the UPenn study plan to focus on my longer studying time and my weakness. I wanted to highlight biochem because I felt weak in that area, and I wanted to spend some more time with neurology because I want to go into neurology and I wanted to do well just for pride reasons. So I took about 4 days for each. The other subjects I just tried to spend half a day to 2 days depending on the amount of material within that subject and how well I knew the subject. I made sure i left about 1.5 weeks at the end to review my material and to do a lot of extra questions.

Books/Resources I used.
I generally used first aid as my backbone for studying. Biggest advice I can give is make sure you get the latest edition of first aid. I had 2007 and added a lot of notes, and when I saw 2008 i realized all the notes I added where already in the 2008 edition. I supplemented the biochem section by reading RR biochem cover to cover and doing the practice questions while taking notes from RR into first aid, so that I can have one consolidated source for studying later. I supplemented all the path sections with RR pathology; reading that cover to cover as well. I supplemented the pharm by using lippincott's pharm; only reading sections that I was confused about in first aid. Neurology, I reread my old notes. Microbiology I used Made Ridiculous Easy as a supplement only for topics that I was confused about. For anatomy I read Kaplan's Anatomy 2006 notes. I would jog for an hour every morning and during that time I would listen to Goljan. Overall, First Aid is a really really good source.

My Day/Week Setup.
Basically I set up my day by reading the first aid section first. Then reading whatever supplemental material and taking notes in first aid. Then at the end of the section I would take all the UW questions from that section. I finished all of the sections in about 4.5 weeks. I reread, twice, and tried to memorize everything in first aid, while doing random questions in Kaplan Qbank during the last 1.5 weeks.

My testing progression.
I finished UW as I finished studying all the sections at week 4.5. Generally I was getting around 80%, with no particular increase or decrease as I progressed. I really used the UW questions to study and took notes on the answers in first aid. I then went back and retook the questions I missed and questions I marked which was around (200 q's or so). I used Qbank in the last week and half; taking random 50 question sections. Basically using Qbank to spot check my knowledge and to increase my testing stamina. At first I was getting around low 70's or so. Then, after I got more testing stamina and took the test more seriously, I was averaging around low 80% in qbank. In general, I felt like UW questions approximated the thinking required for Step. Kaplan had some easy questions and some really off the wall questions. IMO the NBME question are a joke compared to the real thing. At the same time I would not be discouraged by low scores in NBME because I feel like the scoring for NBMEs were much harder than the real thing. I felt like I might have missed only 10 questions or so in the last NBME I took, while I thought I might have missed over 40 questions on the real thing, but my scores are about the same on both tests.

The Days Leading Up to the Test
I had the weirdest sleeping schedule heading up to the test. I woke up at noon and went to bed at around 5 or 6 in the morning. Pretty much taking time only to eat and exercise towards the last 3 weeks or so. (The first 3 weeks I might have only averaged 5 hours of studying and then the pressure hit). So the day before the test, I forced myself to only get about 2 hours of sleep and woke up at at 7 am. I thought I was going to die of sleep deprivation that day, and basically reviewed what i could of first aid and listened to some Goljan. Went to sleep at 9pm, slept like a baby and woke up at 7 for the test the next day.

The Test Itself
From the first section, I felt like this test was much harder than NBME and I was getting worried that I didn't feel as confident as I did for the NBME's. Sections 1 and 2 were straight forward. Section 3 and 4 is where biostats and behavior/ethics questions hit. I think I got about 10 of each on the test. The ethics/behavior questions were easier than UW and Qbank but still were tough for me. Sections 5-7, I didn't really remember much because I was just wanting to finish the test. Other than that I thought in general the questions were fair but harder than I expected. (which means the questions were much more like UW and Kaplan than NBME) I spaced out my breaks evenly and took the maximum time on each section.

Biggest Advice.

1. buy the latest edition of first aid.
2. Make a plan that is doable, and stick with it. Make sure you put in breaks and days off as you feel appropriate because you can burn out.
3. do as many questions as you can, and make sure you learn from the questions you do. do the questions you missed again.
4. have one consolidated place for all your notes because the last week you really want to have only one book to memorize and not have to dig through different books.
5. If you were stellar in the your preclinical classes I think you only need five weeks at the most to study (4 weeks if you are intensely studying from day 1). Anymore and you start forgetting.
6. Make sure you get your testing stamina and sleep schedule set the week before the test. The test is a marathon.

I just want to say thanks for all the help and information, and hopefully my post will help others.

Also to the haters out there, as my friend once said: DON'T HATE, CONGRATULATE

 

[cgk]

Long time lurker, 2nd time poster.

Got a lot of good information about how to study from the forum. Now that I got the scores back, I feel like I should contribute.

Practice Tests
NBME3 240...6 weeks before the test (before studying)
NBME4 265...1 week before the test
UW 80% correct...100% completed...sections of 50 questions on particular topics after I have reviewed the topic the day I took the test
Kaplan 80% correct ...40% completed...sections of 50 random questions - All done the week before the test

STEP1 score 266/99

Went to one of those schools that have a 1.5 year preclinical curriculum, so I had the opportunity to take my medicine rotation right before I started studying. I gave myself 6 weeks to study which I thought was too much. I felt like I peaked at 4 or 5 days before the test, and the last couple of days I just started to forget information. I left the test thinking I could have missed something like 40 to 50 question. I volunteer this information because after I took the test I wanted to know how other people felt right after the test and correlate that with what their score was at the end. So even if you think you missed quite a bit of questions you never know how much of them were experimental and how much of them you actually got right.

I made a plan for my studies which I thought was absolutely instrumental. I modified the UPenn study plan to focus on my longer studying time and my weakness. I wanted to highlight biochem because I felt weak in that area, and I wanted to spend some more time with neurology because I want to go into neurology and I wanted to do well just for pride reasons. So I took about 4 days for each. The other subjects I just tried to spend half a day to 2 days depending on the amount of material within that subject and how well I knew the subject. I made sure i left about 1.5 weeks at the end to review my material and to do a lot of extra questions.

Books/Resources I used.
I generally used first aid as my backbone for studying. Biggest advice I can give is make sure you get the latest edition of first aid. I had 2007 and added a lot of notes, and when I saw 2008 i realized all the notes I added where already in the 2008 edition. I supplemented the biochem section by reading RR biochem cover to cover and doing the practice questions while taking notes from RR into first aid, so that I can have one consolidated source for studying later. I supplemented all the path sections with RR pathology; reading that cover to cover as well. I supplemented the pharm by using lippincott's pharm; only reading sections that I was confused about in first aid. Neurology, I reread my old notes. Microbiology I used Made Ridiculous Easy as a supplement only for topics that I was confused about. For anatomy I read Kaplan's Anatomy 2006 notes. I would jog for an hour every morning and during that time I would listen to Goljan. Overall, First Aid is a really really good source.

My Day/Week Setup.
Basically I set up my day by reading the first aid section first. Then reading whatever supplemental material and taking notes in first aid. Then at the end of the section I would take all the UW questions from that section. I finished all of the sections in about 4.5 weeks. I reread, twice, and tried to memorize everything in first aid, while doing random questions in Kaplan Qbank during the last 1.5 weeks.

My testing progression.
I finished UW as I finished studying all the sections at week 4.5. Generally I was getting around 80%, with no particular increase or decrease as I progressed. I really used the UW questions to study and took notes on the answers in first aid. I then went back and retook the questions I missed and questions I marked which was around (200 q's or so). I used Qbank in the last week and half; taking random 50 question sections. Basically using Qbank to spot check my knowledge and to increase my testing stamina. At first I was getting around low 70's or so. Then, after I got more testing stamina and took the test more seriously, I was averaging around low 80% in qbank. In general, I felt like UW questions approximated the thinking required for Step. Kaplan had some easy questions and some really off the wall questions. IMO the NBME question are a joke compared to the real thing. At the same time I would not be discouraged by low scores in NBME because I feel like the scoring for NBMEs were much harder than the real thing. I felt like I might have missed only 10 questions or so in the last NBME I took, while I thought I might have missed over 40 questions on the real thing, but my scores are about the same on both tests.

The Days Leading Up to the Test
I had the weirdest sleeping schedule heading up to the test. I woke up at noon and went to bed at around 5 or 6 in the morning. Pretty much taking time only to eat and exercise towards the last 3 weeks or so. (The first 3 weeks I might have only averaged 5 hours of studying and then the pressure hit). So the day before the test, I forced myself to only get about 2 hours of sleep and woke up at at 7 am. I thought I was going to die of sleep deprivation that day, and basically reviewed what i could of first aid and listened to some Goljan. Went to sleep at 9pm, slept like a baby and woke up at 7 for the test the next day.

The Test Itself
From the first section, I felt like this test was much harder than NBME and I was getting worried that I didn't feel as confident as I did for the NBME's. Sections 1 and 2 were straight forward. Section 3 and 4 is where biostats and behavior/ethics questions hit. I think I got about 10 of each on the test. The ethics/behavior questions were easier than UW and Qbank but still were tough for me. Sections 5-7, I didn't really remember much because I was just wanting to finish the test. Other than that I thought in general the questions were fair but harder than I expected. (which means the questions were much more like UW and Kaplan than NBME) I spaced out my breaks evenly and took the maximum time on each section.

Biggest Advice.

1. buy the latest edition of first aid.
2. Make a plan that is doable, and stick with it. Make sure you put in breaks and days off as you feel appropriate because you can burn out.
3. do as many questions as you can, and make sure you learn from the questions you do. do the questions you missed again.
4. have one consolidated place for all your notes because the last week you really want to have only one book to memorize and not have to dig through different books.
5. If you were stellar in the your preclinical classes I think you only need five weeks at the most to study (4 weeks if you are intensely studying from day 1). Anymore and you start forgetting.
6. Make sure you get your testing stamina and sleep schedule set the week before the test. The test is a marathon.

I just want to say thanks for all the help and information, and hopefully my post will help others.

Also to the haters out there, as my friend once said: DON'T HATE, CONGRATULATE

congradulations!!! My question to you is, with a score like that, when do you plan on taking Step 2? I scored 265/99 and would like to perhaps wait until my residency applications are in before taking step 2? Please advise.

 

[VeerTheTIGuy]

I am so embarrassed and saddened to write this but since this is a forum about Step 1 exam experiences, I thought I would share my experience with you all so you learn from me what not to do since I did not pass Step 1 exam. I took Falcon retreat program and followed their method 100% - using only their books, audiotapes, UW questions (completed 100% under timed and mixed, averaged about 60%), and reviewed my weak areas using Falcon material. I read First Aid twice and took NBME 1 in which I got 210. I felt safe and confident to go into the exam. I wanted to do more NBME’s but really ran out of time since I had time pressure to go into rotations. It is quite tiring to do 7 week retreat course and then prep another 4-6 weeks after course with tons of questions (trying to get through all UW explanations) and constant review. I averaged about 10-12 hours of study a day, and took one day off a week for errands, family, catch up on sleep, groceries, exercise, etc.

On my Step 1 exam, I had about 20-30 questions on physiology especially with arrows, and a lot of nutrition and histology which was quite surprising. People remember what they struggle with and those are the topics I was surprised to see on the exam. Other topics were pretty much in a broad range – some biochem, some pharm, couple of neuro pictures, few micro, etc.

I really thank jey2283 for his insight as he took Falcon but he supplemented with Kaplan material. That sounds like a smart move. Before, I found it nuts that people at Falcon were reading Kaplan material at the same time. Some told me it takes a long time to read through Kaplan books so I just focused solely on Falcon high-yield material and I believed their hype. Now, in retrospect, I really wish I had used Kaplan material instead. Different things work for different people! This exam studying is definitely not one size fit all.

I am buckling down and trying again. This time, I will do something different and change my study ethics…I plan to throw away Falcon books and tapes, and use Kaplan books (friends have given me theirs), Kaplan QBook, do UW twice, and memorize First Aid fully. I will also take all the NBME’s. I would appreciate any tips on schedule and how I should approach it this time around. How long should be the next time I take it? I can’t figure out if I should memorize details more or study my knowledge base more by reading Kaplan books. Thank you.

haha way to freak out someone who did the Falcon Online review who has his test tomorrow!!

best of luck though man 🙂

 

[2cr8tive]

234/98
After I finished my 2nd year, I had three months (May, June, and July) to study. My exam date was set for July 30th. For the first month and half, I put an average of 4-5 hrs/day and went through all Kaplan books except for Pathology which I used my school notes. I didn't do any questions during this time. Before I start the 2nd read, I took NBME 1 and scored 510 (221?). After that I took two weeks and did the Goljan Audio and RR book and half of USMLE WORLD questions in random and timed manner. Then I took NBME 2 and received a 520 (224?). I started 2nd read mostly from my FA which by now was almost twice as big. During this time I also did USMLE WORLD questions and in about 2.5 weeks or so the second read was and usmle world questions were done. I did nbme 3 and got 510 again. Did nbme 4 and got 530. I was a bit disappointed as I wasn't improving. I had to also tell you guys that during the last two months I was dealing with a big personal drama which affected my concentration drastically but somehow I pulled through. Anyways the last week or two was mostly review and also some Kaplan questions. I reviewed half of the usmle world questions again and did the usmle world self assessment and scores 240+ but I believe this is inflamed. Just a side not that I studied 4-5 hours a day for the first month and half, increased it to 6-8 during the next month and decreased it again as the exam approached. I never used alarm clocks and slept as much as I wanted. And my great mom took care of all the cooking and pampering J
I finally took the exam on july 30th and found it OK. Not too difficult at all. I felt like I passed but didn't know how I did. To my surprise as the days passed I could only imagine myself getting a 99 and nothing less. In any case that didn't come trueJ
I got my scores this morning and it was a 234/98. Though I really wanted to get a 99, I am very thankful.
Hopefully this is useful to some of you guys out there

usmel world avg was 66 or 67

most useful was actually my school notes from robbin, first aid and kaplan q bank and usmle world for knowlege
Good luck

 

[someoneelse]

congradulations!!! My question to you is, with a score like that, when do you plan on taking Step 2? I scored 265/99 and would like to perhaps wait until my residency applications are in before taking step 2? Please advise.

I'm not the best person to ask. I was planning on taking step 2 after my I sent in my residency forms. To be honest, I haven't really thought about it because I'm getting doing a Ph.D. right now and won't have to think about step 2 for another 4 or 5 years.